Introduction

You need not be a South American planter to be a successful stevia grower. While the herb’s native locale may make it appear somewhat exotic, it has proved to be quite adaptable and capable of being cultivated in climate zones as diverse as Florida and southern Canada.

True, home-grown stevia may lack the potency of refined white stevia extract; whole stevioside content generally ranges from 81 to 91 percent, as compared to a leaf level of approximately 12 percent. But it can provide you with a quantity of freshly harvested stevia ‘tea leaves’ to augment your supply of commercial stevia sweeteners.

Organic gardeners in particular should find stevia an ideal addition to their yield. Though nontoxic, stevia plants have been found to have insect-repelling tendencies. Their very sweetness, in fact, may be a kind of natural defense mechanism against aphids and other bugs that find it not to their taste. Perhaps that’s why crop-devouring grasshoppers have been reported to bypass stevia under cultivation.

Then, too, raising stevia yourself, whether in your back yard or on your balcony, is another positive way you can personally (and quite legally) protest the wrongheaded government policies that have for so long deprived the American people of its benefits — a kind of contemporary Victory Garden.

How to Start Your Own Stevia Patch

It would be difficult, at best, to start a stevia patch from scratch — that is, by planting seeds. Even if you could get them to germinate, results might well prove disappointing, since stevioside levels can vary greatly in plants grown from seed.

The recommended method is rather to buy garden-ready ‘starter’ plants, which given stevia’s ‘growing’ popularity, may well be obtainable from a nursery or herbalist in your area — provided you’re willing to scout around a bit. If you’re not, or are unsuccessful in locating any, there are at least three growers of high-quality stevia who will ship you as many baby plants as you’d like.

Keep in mind that not all stevia plants are created equal in terms of stevioside content, and, hence, sweetness. It’s therefore a good idea to try to determine if the plants you’re buying have been grown from cuttings whose source was high in stevioside.

Because tender young stevia plants are especially sensitive to low temperatures, it’s important that you wait until the danger of frost is past and soil temperatures are well into the 50s and 60s before transplanting them into your garden.

Once you begin, it’s best to plant your stevia in rows 20 to 24 inches apart, leaving about 18 inches between plants. Your plants should grow to a height of about 30 inches and a width of 18 to 24 inches.

The Care and Feeding of Stevia

Stevia plants do best in a rich, loamy soil — the same kind in which common garden-variety plants thrive. Since the feeder roots tend to be quite near the surface, it is a good idea to add compost for extra nutrients if the soil in your area is sandy.

Besides being sensitive to cold during their developmental stage, the roots can also be adversely affected by excessive levels of moisture. So take care not to overwater them and to make sure the soil in which they are planted drains easily and isn’t soggy or subject to flooding or puddling.

Frequent light watering is recommended during the summer months. Adding a layer of compost or your favorite mulch around each stevia plant will help keep the shallow feeder roots from drying out.

Stevia plants respond well to fertilizers with a lower nitrogen content than the fertilizer’s phosphoric acid or potash content. Most organic fertilizers would work well, since they release nitrogen slowly.

Gathering Autumn Stevia Leaves

Harvesting should be done as late as possible, since cool autumn temperatures and shorter days tend to intensify the sweetness of the plants as they evolve into a reproductive state. While exposure to frost is still to be avoided, covering the plants during an early frost can give you the benefit of another few weeks’ growth and more sweetness.

When the time does come to harvest your stevia, the easiest technique is to cut the branches off with pruning shears before stripping the leaves. As an extra bonus, you might also want to clip off the very tips of the stems and add them to your harvest, as they are apt to contain as much stevioside as do the leaves.

If you live in a relatively frost-free climate, your plants may well be able to survive the winter outside, provided you do not cut the branches too short (leaving about 4 inches of stem at the base during pruning). In that case, your most successful harvest will probably come in the second year. Three-year-old plants will not be as productive and, ideally, should be replaced with new cuttings.

In harsher climates, however, it might be a good idea to take cuttings that will form the basis for the next year’s crop. Cuttings need to be rooted before planting, using either commercial rooting hormones or a natural base made from willow tree tips, pulverized onto a slurry in your blender. After dipping the cuttings in such a preparation, they should be planted in a rooting medium for two to three weeks, giving the new root system a chance to form. They should then be potted — preferably in 4.5-inch pots — and placed in the sunniest and least drafty part of your home until the following spring.

Unlocking the Sweetness in Your Harvest

Once all your leaves have been harvested you will need to dry them. This can be accomplished on a screen or net. (For a larger application, an alfalfa or grain drier can be used, but about the only way an average gardener might gain access to such a device is to borrow it from a friendly neighborhood farmer). The drying process is not one that requires excessive heat; more important is good air circulation. On a moderately warm fall day, your stevia crop can be quick dried in the full sun in about 12 hours. (Drying times longer than that will lower the stevioside content of the final product.) A home dehydrator can also be used, although sun drying is the preferred method.

Crushing the dried leaves is the final step in releasing stevia’s sweetening power. This can be done either by hand or, for greater effect, in a coffee grinder or in a special blender for herbs. You can also make your own liquid stevia extract by adding a cup of warm water to 1/4 cup of fresh, finely-crushed stevia leaves. This mixture should set for 24 hours and then be refrigerated.

Growing Stevia Without Land

Just because you live within the confines of an apartment or condominium doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the benefits of stevia farming. This versatile plant can be grown either in pots on your balcony or any sunny spot, or else in a hydroponic unit. Stevia plants also do quite well in “container gardens.” A 10″ to 12″ diameter container filled with a lightweight growing mix is an ideal size for each plant. A little mulch on the top will help retain the moisture in the shallow root zone. A properly fertilized hydroponic unit or container garden can provide you with as much stevia as an outdoor garden, if not more.

Richter’s Herbs, a Canadian business, offers plants in 2 1/2″ pots via courier to customers in the U.S. and Canada. For information and prices, you can call (905) 640-6677 or fax them at (905) 640-6641 or write them at 357 Highway 47, Goodwood, Ontario L0C-1A0

Well Sweep Herb Farm is another source offering plants in 3″ pots either via mail order or to customers who stop by. It is located at 205 Mt. Bethel Road, Port Murray, NJ 07865 or can be reached at (908) 852-5390

I heard that they now grow stevia in Camiguin island in the south. Am not sure if Kuya Kim’s ad on Stevia tea had been harvested in the Philippines. A friend priest also told me that he saw stevia plants in Benguet – that’s in the Cordilleras but he can’t detail the address though. I don’t have much time to go places for further research. If you have the opportunity and resources to go to such places, please update me because I too would like to engage in stevia farming.

Hey, My name is Joseph, Am in Rwanda, East Africa, Firstly, I would like to thank u for your commitment and good job u are doing!!! Meanwhile, I would like to make stevia farming! I once saw on TV, that in Rwanda, there is s.one who practice that farming! so, I too , am interested to do so! how can I get assistance? what about the market? please help me to be part of gracious farmers of Stevia!! thanks!

It is available in plenty in most of the nurseries in India. You can order seeds from FLipkart or Amazon.
Growing Stevia in India is very easy and the plant will stay for long years. From large stevia plant you can propagate more plants from cuttings.

I am interested in setting up a unit to process stevia leaves to liquid and powder/ tablet form and market the final product .If you have the technology for this process , please let me know the project details alongwith investment and market demand.
Thanking you ,

My name is David Parku from Ghana West Africa. I’m the CEO of an Agribusiness company. DISPARK GHANA LTD, We have larges farm land available and we want to go into Stevia farming. We have the ideal climate in Ghana and large water body for all kind of irrigation installations.Kindly give me more information about your organisation and let me know if i could get seeds or seedling for at least 200 Acres Stevia farm. Can you also help get market when we produce? We wish to start farm by March 2017.
We also a plantation of Moringa with more 2000 trees at the moment.
I look forward reading from you soon.

Daniel, have you gotten some seedlings and started the stevia farm? I am also in Ghana, Accra to be precise and want to start stevia farm. Please if there is any information you can share, I will be glad to know.

I am living in Sri lanka. Pls let me know the details to start farming stevia. I have my own land and agricultural professionals. Pls let me know the details to start or the agent in sri lanka to deal with.
Thanks in advance
Shyam.

what technique can be used by a farmer to produce stevia sp. in large quantities ?
well, this is our latest examination question . I’am not really sure fr my answer bc this a general knwledge fr a student like me . the options are stem cutting , direct seeding , tissue culture n genetic engineering .
which one is the most accurate ?

Dear All,
May I know where stevia is grown in Uganda? If so where can it be suitably grown in low lands or highlands such as in the volcanic soils on the slopes of Mt. Elgon. I wan start planting this herb.
Thank you and regards,]
Richard Gudoi Gid’Agui
Kampala-Uganda

Sir,I am intrested in stevia cultivationMay i know the detailsHow to cultivate?What are the suitable areas,temperatures?What are the precautionary steps?From where can i get those plants or seeds?Is it better to plant seeds or buy a plant itself?plese help me sir……..…………………..I AM FROM MADHYA PRADESH,INDIA…………………

Hi im bong landagan from los banos philippines, i heard so much about stevia and im usin in my morning coffee instead of refined sugar. I would like to know the culture practice and hopefully produce it for my own consumption and for those who valued their remaining economic life on earth. I have 1.5 hectares farm and i can devote one half of it for stevia production, Kindly share your expertise. We also want to create employment out oftevia production.

I got so many stevia plants and uses some for my coffee,Dried the leaves on dehydrator, I used to be a type 2 diabetic and steavia helps me alot coupled withpowdered malunggay in capsule form. I guess you can buy seeds at amazon or seach the web. I bought mine fully grown at Houston Garden Center for 50 cents per 1 foot high months ago. Now they are flowering dont know yet if seeds will come out well and I can share some to you. Iam native pinoy and Houston based.

Sir,
I am intrested in stevia cultivation
May i know the details
How to cultivate?
What are the suitable areas,temperatures?
What are the precautionary steps?
From where can i get those plants or seeds?
Is it better to plant seeds or buy a plant itself?
plese help me sir……..
…………………..I AM FROM ANDHRA PRADESH,INDIA………………………

HI,
iam intrested to grow stevia plants in my garden,i have 3 acres land ,,i would like to know

* On which month its suitable for plantation
* Where stevia plants or seeds are available
* How much time to taken for harvesting
* Where markets available( town or city names) to sold our stevia prod
************ IAM FROM ANDHRA PRADESH**********

How are they doing and how many did you buy, please? I’ll check and see if the NS Home Depot carries the same stock. It will probably be much more reasonable than shipping from Ontario.. Thanks for posting!

temperatures below 5 degrees in winter will kill the plants. in that case you may have only 2 or say three cultivation of the plants.
However the plants live is 3-4 years max.
For details call 8084511805

I have been grrowing few plants in my backyard , after drying the leaves in sun and just hand crushing it .I have been using the powder , quarter of tea spoon in my morning tea, good enough for two cups. It is tastefully sweet and healthy home product. The plant keeps coming up next season by itself without any extra effort.

Very good informative data. Answers probably, all queries in mind !
Thank you very much.
I wished to know whether Stevia Plants cultivation is possible in tropical countries like India, where
summer is very hot, ranging high level of temperature between 35-40 deg. Celsius ?
Regards.

ANy gardening centre/nursery should have Stevia plants that you can then propagate via stem cuttings. I routinely buy from Builders warehouse garden centre, Stark Ayres and other places. THey tend to go out of stock over winter but you should start seeing them again now that it’s spring.

I live between Toowoomba [Top mountain range ] and Brisbane Australia. This summer has been hot for us, [most days over 30 and high humidity ] and I have had my 1st go at growing Stevia. Mine is in a 15 litre plastic bucket, wicking method [google or youtube] bottom 16 cm water reservoir and top 20 cm good garden loam. I fill base once a week, don’t think it ever ran out. I have been using a few leaves at a time but will cut today as about to flower. Will leave 1 head to form seed. Have a go and good luck.

Hello, i am a farmer in Nigeria,i want to add stevia plant to my list of plant, ,i wish to grow it in commercial quantity. Please send me the detail of how i can get the supply and the price. thanks my regards

I live in Delhi .I got tiny plant from local nursery in Feb.The plant has grown around half a metre.All branches tends to lean towards sun till now.Now mid April temp touching 40c leaves appears to moving away from sunshine.IAm afraid plant may die when temperature will touch 46c. What should I do. I am thinking of keeping plant in partial sunlight.

Hi Brad, I bought mine at the local Sunday market in Toowoomba. Successfully grown in a 15 litre bucket, wicking method. Great success despite our hotter and more humid than usual summer here at Withcott 4352. After reading about others I will be cutting and drying mine except for 1 section as about to flower and seed. have been picking and using by the leaf for months.

Thank you for the interesting information about stevia. I know a nursery in Canada that sells the plant, and will be purchasing a small plant for my herb garden this year! I love to experiment with new plants in my garden!

The author of the site has explained perfectly well how to grow, fertilise and dry/cure stevia.

My advice to all you potential growers in India, Uganda, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Philippines, etc is GET ON WITH IT. Find a source of plants (google?) and do it. Don’t expect the author of this site to call your private numbers from the United States because it is never going to happen and why should they?

I recently purchased 3 plants that were labeled “sweet Herb” I was told that they were stevia plants They are very tall with only 2 or 3 stems coming from the grown they are beginning to flower. I purchased them at a close out for 30 cents a piece. first of all I would like to know if they are indeed stevia plants. dark green leaves and very sweet and how to prune them so they will be busy

I have 29 acre own land. i am interested in stevia farming.how i will get its seeds or branches initially.i have already organic farming with infrastures.
how can i get the complete idea about this crop,means period of harvesting.
type of irrigation.fertilizers. seeds etc

I live in Andalucía, southern Spain.
Stevia grows perfectly well here. We have winter temperatures of about 12ºC and summer temperatures up to 40ºC.

The author of the site has explained perfectly well how to grow, fertilise and dry/cure stevia.

I bought a stevia plant in my local garden centre/nursery. I took cuttings in the normal way (also listed in the body of the text). My advice to all you potential growers in India, Philippines, etc is GET ON WITH IT. Find a source of plants (google?) and do it. Don’t expect the author of this site to call your private numbers from the United States because it is never going to happen and why should they?

I live ijn Fuengirola, Andalucia. Bought plant at AKI and it loves my terrace. No frost here., Getting ready for flowers to bloom. Wonder how the flowers affect strength and The powder is green color. Made a tencture- clear color. using leaves. Next time will use the powder. Lot of leaves- little results. Enough for me!

Hi Rick, Will probably grow well but may have to be an annual. i am hoping mine will survive the winter even tho we have frosts, I only have 1 in a 15 litre bucket, wicking method. Bought as a seedling and picking at least 1 leaf every day since bought in Oct. have a lot dried. Have a go. Good luck

I have 10 small tea farmers growers society at gumbedhara near kalimpong , Darjeeling and altitude is 6500 ft. from sea level we would like to cultivate stevia in between tea plants as a value added tea purpose. kindly provide me in details for cultivation.

Dear all,
I am very happy to see your activities about stevia crops and would like to call you to come and invest in Rwanda because we have available land suitable for stevia cultivation. in addition to that we have suitable and strong infrastructure for irrigation.

Dear Sir,
I wanted to start the steavea farminf in the hills of Sikkim. The altitude is between 1000 meter to 2500 meter above the sea level.
The area is sunny and no frost in winter. the winter temperature is minimum 5 to 10 degree centigrade.
With blissful Regards

I am interested for stevia cultivation in distt- morena madhyapradesh.
I want to know feasibility of cultivation of stevia in my region because in the months of may and June temperature reaches to 46degree centigrade and warm wind (i.e Loo) flows in my region.
is it will cultivated in polyhouse or green house
So kindly help the heedful.

Dear Emma,
A Ugandan entrepreneur has embarked on production of the much sought after Stevia plant in Uganda. As seen from her blog above, the product will be ready soon and details will be issued by September to interested parties.

Dear sir/madam
I’m very interesting.
The land here is not utilize fully yet.
I heard about one company grown it here,in CAMBODIA.
But don’t know the progress yet.
Land here is not too expensive. And we can utilize land.
Thanks and regards

Dear Sir/Madam
My request could be a bit of a stretch as i reside in Phuket ,Thailand.
I am interested in purchasing/growing stevia plants and would appreciate your assistance in my quest.
Mohan
+66877531661

i just bought a healthy looking stevia plant today at home depot for 6 dollars broke off a leaf and tasted it before i bought it.
couldnt believe how sweet it tasted. they only had one left maybe i should have bought it because i didnt realize until after reading
this article they werent found just anywhere and that you cant really successfully start your own from seed

I would like to know that the stevia can be grown in.Jodhpur, Rajasthan INDIA. please let me know how I can get this plant in Jodhpur. What is the water requirements? Jodhpur is a highly hottest area in india. Is it affects the stevia plants???
thank you.

Temperatures above 44 degree Celsius might damage stevia crops. But if you are very interested in stevia farming then you can employ poly-house to control temperatures for cultivation effort. For further help call on 9970044228.

I AM INTERESTED IN CIONTACT WITH A BUYER OF STEVIA LEAVES. WE DO BE ABLE TO SELL A LOT AND WE NEED A BUYER TO START TO GROW UP BIG AMOUNT OF LAND IN LATINAMERICA. GOVERMENT HELP TO CREATE MIX COMPANY. I WILL HELP WITH TRANSACCIONS TO MAKE POSIBLE REAL DIALS DUE TO THIS PROJETS HELP A LOT OF PEOPLE IN MY COUNTRY

My dear,Stevia seed ,you need some time over 200 seed or over to have a plant.If the Stevia seeds have more then 90 days,don’t grow.
The best are to buy plants and make cuts.
Check for your Stevia seeds are black or their are garbage.

Hi.I’m hemalatha mathialagan.I’m from Malaysia.I’m very interested on stevia.good natural plantatio.is it possible to grow stevia in malaysia.we are interested and good area of plantation. We also have green leaf thulasi and dark green leaf thulasi here.please can you give full information about this plant.it will very usefull to me.please let me know how I can get this plant in Malaysia.thank you.

Good day. I have been looking for information on stevia plant or seeds for s year now. I am from NIgeria, with tropical climate, and rain forest climate, vey similar to the south American .the soil here is well drain loamy and the soil temperature is around 50. Please can I get the seed and information on how to grow the seeds successfully. I will appreciate a time response from you. Thank you

hi
i am from zimbabwe
i would like to have stavia plants i have been trying to plant using seeds, but the seedlings will dry easily and i have not achieves any so i need more seeds or ready to plant seedling/plants

This sounds a wonder tree plant. It tickles my mind and raises my interest the question though, its botanical name, how can one get its seeds and whether it grows well in the tropical climate of Uganda or East Africa/

My name is Alex Yakaumo and I have a healtshop in Suriname, in South America. I like to have info/wholesale prices about stevia dry leaves, powder, seeds and seedlings. If the prices are interesting we can look what the shippingcost will be.

I have been unsuccessful in germinating Stevia Rebaudiaside seeds, which I managed
to obtained from India, Peru (known as the Motherland of Stevia) I prepared several
soil medium for this purpose in consultation with growers in India and Peru.
I believe Stevia can be successful cultivated in Sri Lanka by farmers in wet and
semi-dry zone, under irrigated/or rain fed systems, not in water logged or lands
likely to get flooded.
Any quantity of rooted stevia plants can purchased from India Nurseries, at a reasonable
price, but due to stringent import and Quarantine Department regulation s it is a
long and difficult process.

Harvesting of leaves – can be commenced from the 6 to 8 months, about
30,000 plants will be required per acre.

I am living hot areas of Pakistan. Can I grow Stevia here? Where can I get its young plant for cultivation? Can I get it in Pakistan? Can I have any e_mail address of some supplier of Stevia plant? Please reply me.

Great article. I’m growing a few plants from seed in the UK. Germination rate was quite poor and they where very slow to get going. Just wondering if just adding a fresh leaf to a cup of tea would make the tea sweeter. Is it neccessary to dry the leaves first?

I have added fresh leaves to hot water to make tea with other fresh herb leaves in it as well. It worked great. The longer it steeped, the sweeter it got. You don’t have to dry them first. Experiment to figure out how many to add for your taste.

I am Gurudatta from Nepal. I am also looking to cultivate the Stevia Plant in my farm house, is it possible to grow in the temperature between 20 – 40 deg celcus. Would you provide me rate of per plant in you place?

Dear Sirs, I’d like to plant stevia, and build a processing factory in central China. Could you help provide seeds and relative processing technology & equipment? We got very big market here in China. Maybe we can cooperate on the factory operating? Looking forward to your reply soon! Faithfully yours. Heywood Dong. July 9th, 2012.

Bought stevia seed … 8 in packet for about $3.50 … four grew VERY well … so far. Gave 3 to diabetic friends for their use. Plan to use mine in tea, etc. Wonder how to use it in baking? We live in Central Pennsylvania and plan to keep mine as house plant. Saw plants offered in Gurney seed catalogue, really costly. That’s why I decided to try seed.

I haven’t tried it yet for baking but literature indicates it will not loose its’ sweetening power. One thing to remember is that sugar has other baking properties, such as browning, structure, spread, etc. It might be best to use it with reduced sugar in recipes if the sugarless product in not successful.

I bought pack of seeds,planted in small containers ,10 seeds each. I had 6 germinate,and now have 4 plants.Used soilless organic soil. Two are still small,the others finally taking off. Getting ready to plant in my regular garden.

hi 🙂 i am from the philippines and we found out that my mother has symptoms of diabetes. we would like to introduce her to the natural way of treating her disease at the same time provide her with foods that are safe for her. i heard about stevia and would want to learn more about it. i love gardening and i would love to plant something that can benefit my family’s good health. i hope to know if i can grow it in a climate such as the philippines and where i can get the seeds from. thank you for this space and i look forward to hear from you the soonest.

hello leah. 🙂 im also from the philippines, specifically baguio city and im guessing stevia can tolerate the philippine climate. i just bought 2 stevia plants today and ive transplanted them in my herbal garden. i bought mine from the local nurseries. maybe you should check out some around your area. 🙂 good luck

I am a diabetic myself since 2002. I started taking malunggay powder, one teaspoonful 20 minutes before each meal and my blood sugar became normal after 30 days of continuous taking malunggay. My blood sugar became normal and I dont take any medicine now for my diabetes for more than 5 years now. Why not try malunggay… It helps…. Francis

Hi! am Linda from the Philippines. I like this plant and i want to cultivate this for my own consumption. I wish i could have a seed or a young plant to start my own garden. Thank you and more blessings to come. GOD BLESS..

Rebecca, Stevia is NOT an artificial sweetener; it is a PLANT. It is not a chemically created artificial sweetener created in a lab. The native Indians of Paraguay have been using it for centuries! And if the government were to try to vilify it, it’s only because they wouldn’t be making money from it. You do realize that big Pharma WANT to keep us sick, don’t you? It means more prescriptions bought, thus, more money for them!

I found here Mr. Alam’s suggestions are too much helpful for stevia cultivation. Other suggestions are not complete. If Mr. Alam write more on processing in industry base, that will be more helpful for those peoples who are asking here about big agricultivation farm.

It is a wonderful thing to see so many people getting interested into Stevia growth and research. As Chef/Research Gardeners, we have just done our first year research into the growth and full utilization of this plant. We had one plant that we quickly split into to two, as simply stated above. We fully utilized the leaves and some of the stems throughout the year for alternative sweetener. In our greenhouse, we were able to allow the two plants to grow until late October in the the Midwest growing regions. That was about almost eight months of successful growth from two substantial plants.
We harvested the seeds and wish to see what activity we can gain from that seed harvest. If it is less than 10% than we will document and take note of what works, and what does not work in the subject environments. There about 2,000 seeds from the two small plants so we have plenty of culture test with modules to work with.
To those of you overseas, we will inquire to make sure that you will be provided with the same research modules and test subjects to work with as well.

I came to this website to learn how to harvest my stevia plants. I am growing 3 plants, in a hydroponic garden (working on a blogspot hydroponically yours) The weather here in FL has just brought us a few cool days, but it will heat up again. I will cut the plants back to 4-5 inches to get another growing season, but right now they are no where near big enough, although it seems like they are trying to flower. I did not see any mention of the flowers.

Hey good idea. I bought a Stevia plant from Lowe this summer and added it to my Topsy Turvy… It was damaged during transplantation to the Topsy Turvy due to the entry ports (which I later removed) but the Stevia has begun to regrow nicely and I plan to begin harvesting and purchase another plant of it in a few weeks… I live in upland Ca and I find the weather to be just right… Cant wait to try hand at granulation… Best of luck to you!

I’m about to try an autumn stevia crop in middle Tennessee. Does anyone know what the best companion plant is for stevia? Does anyone know what the optimum soil ph should be for maximum sweetness? Have you girls over in NC noticed a sweeter leaf after a light frost and do you know the soil ph/lime content where they are planted?

I live in Franklin ( Milwaukee county) Wisconsin. I found stevia plants in early spring in with all the rest or the herbs for sale at Steins. planted one plant in a raised bed square foot garden. I made my own soil for my garden( approx 12ftx5ft which gave me three aprox 4×4 sections, one for herbs, one for veggies, and one for tomatoes, peppers, egglants). My soil consisted of 1/3rd course vermiculite(Lowes early spring) 1/3rd organic peat moss(lowes, or steins) and 1/3rd A MIXTURE OF 5 DIFFERENT ORGANIC COMPOSTS (lowes steins menards).Enough for about 6 inches deep. The reason for 5 different composts is that you will get more nutrients.ect.. instead of just buying a bunch of bags of one kind. I learned this from a book I bought at Menard’s called “All new square foot gardening” by Mel Bartholomew. My stevia plant along with all my other plants have done perfectly well all year.I water my garden just a little every other day in the morning when its hot and not rainig, carfull not to wet the plants. I use Miracle grow about every week or two. I snip a few leaves off my stevia and dry them either outside on a screen in shade to sun or quicker just in the Microwave, crush ,sift, and add to coffee and herb tea( I grow chocolate mint, lemon mint and spearmint, that I also found at Steins, in a 1x3ft planter). HINT– fresh bruised chocolate mint leaves mixed with rootbeer and vanilla ice cream , sifted,and slowly poured over small lemon baller scoops of vanilla ice cream served in a champain glass and garnished with a chocolate mint leaf and a rasberry,makes a great, elegant, after dinner chocolate mint rootbeer float!!( I invented that) working the mint leaf in your mouth and lips after finishing keeps the chocolate mint flavor last longer. I have a sweet tooth and love to just pic a leaf of stevia and quickly bite and work around my lips and toungue when working outside. I will be trying in fall to cut and dry the whole stevia plant for winter use. I will also be trying the mixture or 1 cup water to 1/4 cup dried stevia and refigerating. I am curious of how long this mixture is good for in the frig. thanx

Hi, I have 6 stevia plants. Some are 3′ tall and not very bushy. In the last week I have had two that just wilt over, overnite. I cut them off and still hung them upside down to dry. Two questions for someone, will the leaves still be good even though they wilted first and why did they wilt? I live in Wisconsin and all the plants have been treated the same. One of the plants that wilted had the main stalk wilt but one of the branches near the dirt did not. I don’t want to lose the other 4 plants please help.

Planted Stevia about 4 weeks ago in the Snow belt of Erie County, Pennsylvania. My word what a crop I’ve got! Am actually bruising the leaves and a mint leaf for my coffee. I have a sweet tooth but with the mint, 2 to 3 leaves make a wonderful wake up! Will be trying the extract instructions this fall. With all that have cropped up, will be sharing with my very large family and friends. Thanks for all the info in this site!

Hi Michelle, how many plants do you have and where did you acquire them? I bought one this spring on a whim for my son and am having quite a bit of fun with it! Now I’m getting more interested in doing it again but on a larger scale. I live in Southern Mass. Thanks for the posting 🙂

Dear setareh,
you should follow these things while drying the stevia like
– Do not dry the leaves under sun make a shade & dry under the Sade.
– you can also dry under the tree or in the cooling air.
– The temperature would be 25 to 40 degree Celsius.
– when you pack the dry leaves air would be pass inside either moisture would come.

I grew some last year and harvested by cutting in the fall and hanging the plants to dry. Once they were dry I stripped the leaves and use them whole in tea – 3 leaves is good for one large cup imho. They stay on the bottom or if they float I remove them. Easy as pie and not the hassle of grinding with a mortar and pestle. I am growing more this year – what a great easy and healthy sweetener. I might try grinding the stems in my coffee grinder this year and see what that’s like.

I grow the stevia for personal use and only have 3 plants. Everyone that we show it to is amazed by it. Can’t wait to harvest and see how it is. When I first got it the leaves were sweet tasting. Now they are green and slighty bitter tasting is this normal and will they be sweet when I dry them ?

I’m growing stevia in a large container on the deck on the front of my house. It has been thriving there for 6-weeks, and it is proving to be an attractive specimen plant. I purchased the plants at Lowes. I’m skeptical about the practacality of using as a sugar substitute, but we shall see . . . It’s good to know that stevia can be readily propagated from cuttings. Hopefully I can keep it alive indoors through the frigid Nebraska winter and have it back out on the deck with my other container plants the following spring.

I have mine in a fairly small pot outside in Colorado and plan to bring it in this fall. I guess if it begins to die it might be best to just harvest the whole thing. Have you heard of anyone bringing it in and it surviving? As I understand the following sight it does not sound real likely. http://www.ehow.com/how_4785861_grow-sweet-stevia-container-garden.html

I have plants growing up in the central border county. Do you think it will survive the winter up there? Did you protect it with mulch and/or sheeting during the frosts? I’d love to keep the plant if I could. 🙂 thanks!

I live in north central Rockingham County (NC), about 15 miles south of the VA border. We had a snowy, very cold winter last year. This is the 3rd year for my stevia, which is now about 5′ tall. It grows in full sun. I’ve basically neglected it, except to give it water occasionaly, but it has flourished. I will harvest it, dry it and grind it. Does anyone know how to use it as a sugar substitute in baking?

I purchased 3 2″pots of Stevia at the local farmers market one month ago. They are planted in a Horse trough. In just one month they have filled the trough. The easiet thing to grow that we have ever planted here in dry So Calif.Came to the site to learn about processing for use in cooking.Thank you so much for the information.Also surprised that peoples from all across the Globe are interested in growing it commercially. Good luck to everyone.

Hi Joyce, I think you and I are the only ones wanting to grow for personal use only! I only have one plant – I don’t think that’s going to provide me with much sweetener for my one cup of coffee daily…. what do you think?
Lisa
Central North Carolina

I just found out stevia existed today. Read through a few websites. One website was fueling fear. Seems that stevia causes reproductive problems, aspertame doesn’t? Stevia has been used In Japan since the early 70’s. This may be why most males In Japan are now sterile. You don’t know what to do about this, laugh or cry. Cancer! Yes, It causes cancer. Lol. Maybe Japan’s male population has died off. A Mr. Huxtable said we need to do more testing besides all the other bs he had to say so okay, who’s doing the testing? The creeps at the FDA want more tests done on stevia. WHEN CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE ANY TEST RESULTS CREEPS? Probably when all the Incompetent CREEPS are removed within the FDA. These creeps care not one bit about the US population. They work for the criminals who make the sugar substitutes which cause serious health problems. Since the people who consume stevia have no health problems as opposed to the “safe” Aspertame which has helped make the USA one of the sickest nations on earth, should give the answer If stevia Is safe to consume. I Intend on using It. Thank you for the space to post!

Thank the sugar lobby for the “fear” perspective. I’ve been using this stuff for 10 years, just got my own plant this year, but I think 3 total is good for one household. Aspertame makes me sick as a dog. Headaches, dizziness, nausea, gas, vertigo, etc. Stevia has never done any such thing. The worst that can happen is that your drink will end up on the bitter side. Cancer, my behind. Like the stuff they produce isn’t full of cancer-causing chemicals. Tests show that stevia is a tonic for the pancreas. The sugar lobbies are just terrified that stevia will catch on with the general public. A natural, calorie free sweetener could drive their profits down. The FDA wants more tests done on stevia so’s they can put off anybody who wants to mass market it, advertising ALL the benefits. I’m sure that the sugar lobbies are paying handsomely for the FDA’s stalling tactics. Check out a book called “The Stevia Cookbook” by Ray Sahelian. Chock full of info and recipes.

I live in Canada and was astonished to find small bedding plants of stevia for sale at the local Zellers garden centre. Is stevia an annual or a perennial and does it grow back each year like peppermint for instance?
Lynn

It is a perennial in its native climate, and some sources call it a hardy annual. That is why the article talks about preparing cuttings for the next season early. This plant has nice totipotency so its cuttings shouldn’t be to difficult to propagate.

It’s better to dry the leaves…this is from personal experience. Dry the leaves, and grind to a powder. I’ve used them fresh, and it’s kind of messy. To get the most out of it fresh, you’ll need to grind up the leaves with a mortar and pestle, and I wouldn’t grind up more than you are going to use at the time…not sure how well it keeps.

I have some stevia plants and live in Texas just north of Dallas. We have thunderstorms that have down pours of rain. Would I be able to plant my stevia plants outside? Or would having some shelter to keep rain off leaves be ok, leave them in the house? It usually dries pretty fast after a thunderstorm here and high humidity.
Please let me know as soon as you can.
Thank you.
Betty G.

I live in SE Texas too, and started growing Stevia this spring. I have 2 plants and started with 3. One is very large, Do I have to wait till Fall to harvest it? I understand by reading some info on it, you harvest it in the late fall, and cut it down to 4 inches. Strip off the leaves and cut back the ends of the stems and add to the leaves. Dry by sunlight if possible. Crush and use that way. Do you have any more info? Would appreciate any info. Connie

I, too, live just north of Dallas in Lewisville. I purchased a Stevia plant this spring and put it in my garden. It is doing terrific, even in our record breaking summer heat! I did plant it so that it is in a raised area of my garden. This way any water would drain away without drowning the roots.
Good luck!

For any of you living in the Boise area, you can find plants at Edward’s Nursery. I have my stevia in the house on the kitchen table…it’s doing just fine, and I live in the mountains. The night temps are around 40 degrees in the summer, and it’s been recommended to keep them inside below 57.